Autistic Girl Expresses Profound Intelligence

ODD is usually associated with ADHD as they tried to say I had it aswell. I just feel the way they treat and think about people with MR/MD as being
'ignorant' is horrible. All through my school year i was looked upon as being stupid yet when it came test time i was the person who raised the
schools test averages and was considered 'gifted' but then after it was testing time and i went back to the classrooms where i struggled heavily i
recieved bad grades with the only thing passing me through being my outstanding testing ability. Another problem with this was that i moved as a child
from the south to the west coast and oh how that helped so much(sarcasm) imagine someone with my problems in a new area with a deep southern accent
trying to explain that im not an idiot. and on the oppositional defiant disorder, I feel that it is created by the same people who say we are
'ignorant' i mean you have all this intelligence yet find it hard to use it in classroom activities so the teachers like to label you as a
'problem' and make an example out of you and try to beat you down until you do your work and things like a 'nomal' person. It makes me sick!

This was really inspiring and gave me a sense of awe. It's stories like this that have always made me stand up for the true underdog. We all know how
cruel children can be, especially to other kids with special needs. Sadly, the majority of the sheep will always fear what they don't understand,
despite amazing stories like this. Having said that, I hope this opens a lot of eyes, especially those of the "professionals" (pfft) who wrote her
off.

Erm... I thought most people knew autistic people we're intelligent. Of course she can type in a coherent fashion! Autistic people are not mentally
retarded, I know some times idiots will call them that, but I thought it was common knowledge that they arent. This is not "news" unless youve
never read anything about autism. Some autistic people have certain skills where they excel way above average than regular people, usually its
something like music, math or art. Youve probably known someone who is a high functioning autistic and never knew he was autistic. There was a kid
like that at my school and people knew he was weird but most kids didnt know he was autistic. There are many types of autism, and sometimes its a mix
of conditions, its really a case by case type of thing.

You want to say that the professionals are wrong and she actually can live a worry free life without and complications? The professionals are wrong
and she could even become the president of the world?

From an academic point of view, this young girl is a goldmine of information. Just to hear her explain why autistic individuals don't look (often)
at people was fascinating to me. Why they cover their ears, and engage in head-banging. Very valuable perspective.

I hope researchers will consult her often, and compensate her for her input, as needed, not just simply use her as a test guinea pig. She has
extraordinarily insightful information which can/will be enormously beneficial to those who work with autistic children, and potentially the children
themselves.

Mental retardation (MR) is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly
impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of 18.

Do these people have difficulties controlling their own thoughts or their bodies? Do these people have delays in oral language development? Do they
have delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills?
If you answered yes to these questions then these people are mentally retarded.

Your definition of MR varies from the official one and it doesn't make the statement wrong.

You want to say that the professionals are wrong and she actually can live a worry free life without and complications? The professionals are wrong
and she could even become the president of the world?

Excuse me, sir, but I said no such things. Perhaps you should actually watch the video, particularly the part where they talked about her original
diagnosis, before you make ridiculous assumptions and put words in my mouth. Although shame on me for even replying to your nonsense.

You said she was written off. Doesn't this that she can never live a life the same as normal people do? This is what I was referring to.
She is written off because she can never be the same as any other normal person. She can't function as a normal member of our
society. Not in this condition at least.
This doesn't mean that she's to be forgotten and left alone without any help.

Mental retardation (MR) is a generalized disorder, characterized by significantly
impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors with onset before the age of 18.

Do these people have difficulties controlling their own thoughts or their bodies? Do these people have delays in oral language development? Do they
have delays in the development of adaptive behaviors such as self-help or self-care skills?
If you answered yes to these questions then these people are mentally retarded.

You definition of MR varies from the official one.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

I have an autistic cousin so have heard a lot about autism first hand, I have also read books on autism, mentally retarded IS NOT used to describe
autistic people unless they have more than autism (many people who have autism have mutiple conditions, so an autistic person could be mentally
retarded as well).

Impaired communication, emotional detachment.... mental retardation? No. Control of thoughts? Yes. Their delays are because communication issues and
certain other learning barriers, this does not make them mentally retarded. If you think it does, you better not say that in front of an autistic
person or their family, they get really offended.

There different types of Autism. They aren't all like Rain Man. My youngest has Aperger's and she's pretty damn smart. A friend of her's was
non-verbal at a young age and his mother refused to allow the school system to treat him differently. He's a bright, inquisitive kid that just
graduated middle school. A pleasure to talk to.

What's this? Proof that the Eugenics arses are wrong? That mentally retarded people are in fact full of intelligence of a different variety? That
just because they do not conform to your vision of perfection you think they are not human, but they are? But what about abortion? What about
eugenics? It's all wrong?

They get offended because they misunderstand the meaning of the word retarded. They are a direct outcome of this #ed up society that uses that
word as an insult which it really isn't!

Edit:
Can the girl of this story speak? No = Impaired communication. Yes
These barriers and delays are exactly what MR describes.

Retardation is the act or result of delaying; the extent to which anything is retarded or delayed; that which retards or delays.

Stop thinking that this word is an insult or has any other meaning. It doesn't!

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

No, they get offended because they actually know what MR means. A deaf person has communication barriers too, they aren't mentally retarded
either.Schizophrenic people are intelligent too and not considered to be retarded. These are issues of interfacing with physical reality and have
nothing to do with mental capacity.

Of course autistic people and their families DO NOT misunderstand what MR is, autistic kids often go to special needs programs where there are kids
with MR, they have MR friends, theyre parents are friends with MR parents, doctors have explained to them the difference between MR and autism a
million times. Please, just go ask a doctor if autism is considered to be a form mental retardation. I guarantee you they will say no.
edit- look up the word cognition and then re-read your definition of MR.

Schizophrenia is different from autism. Did you read the definition of retarded? If yes then you should understand why schizophrenics aren't MR.
Autism is a development disorder. Schizophrenia is not. MR means that the child's development has been retarded, delayed, impaired etc.

And I looked up the word cognition a hundred times to be sure.
Cognition - The process of thought
What the girl said about covering her ears or banging her head:

It’s a way for us to drown out all sensory input that overloads us all at once. We create output to block input.

This means exactly that her brain if overprocessing the information it receives. This means that she has impaired cognitive functioning.

Schizophrenia is different from autism. Did you read the definition of retarded? If yes then you should understand why schizophrenics aren't MR.
Autism is a development disorder. Schizophrenia is not. MR means that the child's development has been retarded, delayed, impaired etc.

Erm, I didnt say autistic people are like schizos, only in that they can have communication barriers. Look up the word cognition, autistic people do
not fit your MR definition...

What's this? Proof that the Eugenics arses are wrong? That mentally retarded people are in fact full of intelligence of a different variety? That
just because they do not conform to your vision of perfection you think they are not human, but they are? But what about abortion? What about
eugenics? It's all wrong?

Pff. Silly goose. Life is life. Life finds a way.

Are you coming off harsh? To be honest, I'm having a hard time following you.

If this is about me not being understanding towards Autistic people, then your wrong.

I DID get gobsmacked when I saw this and it turned part of my world upside down.

I mean - I always had a good feeling that something was going on - that they are trapped in their own bodies. This just validated it for me.

And I also teared up quite a bit when I was watching this at my friend's house. It was... There are no words...

Schizophrenia is different from autism. Did you read the definition of retarded? If yes then you should understand why schizophrenics aren't MR.
Autism is a development disorder. Schizophrenia is not. MR means that the child's development has been retarded, delayed, impaired etc.

And I looked up the word cognition a hundred times to be sure.
Cognition - The process of thought
What the girl said about covering her ears or banging her head:

It’s a way for us to drown out all sensory input that overloads us all at once. We create output to block input.

This means exactly that her brain if overprocessing the information it receives. This means that she has impaired cognitive functioning.

[edit on 24/7/2010 by DGFenrir]

Autistic people dont have a problem precessing thought, they just process it differently so they are not going to fuction the same as everyone
else.

Im not sure where you got your definition of cognition either
read these dictionary.reference.com...
Knowing... Did the girl in the video know how people perceived her? Yes, cognition there is not impaired...

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